Hand crimping tools are used extensively in forcing the parts of insulated solderless electrical connectors, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,705, together to make simultaneous electrical connection to a multiplicity of electrical wires. Crimping tools for such connectors are generally made with parallel acting jaws so as to uniformly apply pressure to the top and bottom of the connector. If the crimping motion is not fully completed by the tool operator the electrical connections to the wires will be substandard and some of the connections may even not be completed. For this reason prior art tools have provided ratchet mechanisms which, once the crimping motion is started, do not permit the jaws to return to their original positions until a predetermined crimping motion has been completed. Such tools have suffered from two problems. First, as a user becomes experienced with the tool he constantly applies excessive pressure to be assured the crimping will be completed so that he does not have to make a second crimping motion. In doing so tool breakage can occur. Second, once the crimping motion is started it must be completed even though the operator notices a wire is missing or that he has improperly positioned the connector in the tool.